The Articulum
Part 5
By: Lance Holloway
Riding Metty, Peten followed Arna. He was glad they were out of
the forest, but out in the prairie the sun beat down on them. And the
s un we setting. They were following a river though. Arna said it lead
to the city of Yummmak. Peten couldn't wait. They haven't been in a
city since they left home.
Turlon lingered behind. He appeared to be thinking. Peten didn't
know if it was about his destiny or what happened earlier today. Turlon
seemed to act more like the Norrom.
"This is the best camping spot," shouted Rarguf from above. The
river made a slight turn and created a nice slope down to the water.
"We camp here," Arna announced after looking over the area.
"It's about time," Jamk responded as Arna dismounted him. "Would
you mind untying Vulla? I want to get a drink from the river."
Arna untied the rope from Jamk's saddle. Jamk waited and Vulla
trotted over to him. They both galloped down the slope to the river.
Peten dismounted Metty and pulled out supplies from the saddle
bag. Turlon walked up behind him. "Peten, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Peten said. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure I want to be the Norrom."
"Why? You would make a great leader. With some practice."
Turlon looked down. "It's not that. It's the fact that I am
going to be something else. I'm going to be part animal. I don't even
know what animal."
"I'm sure you could overcome that. Look at Jamk and Rarguf,"
Peten pointed to the dragon and horse at the river. "They have grown
accustom to their new bodies."
"Yeah, but Jamk will change back in a few days. And Rarguf has
that powerful dragon body. I might end up being half worm."
"Turlon, I doubt you will be...." Peten began.
"How do you know?" Turlon yelled. "How do you even know how Jamk
and Rarguf feel? You haven't been transformed. You're the only one who
won't be. Everybody else has. And I'm next."
Peten just stood there. Something must be really troubling
Turlon. He never gets that angry.
"I'm sorry." Turlon broke the silence. "I didn't mean to yell at
you. It's not your fault." He walked off.
Peten watched him remove his supplies from Dabb's bag. Peten
hoped that Turlon would calm down. He had no idea of what to say.
Turlon was right. He doesn't know how Rarguf and Jamk feel.
After settling for the night, the group fell asleep. Peten was
awakened by horse hooves. He cracked his eyes open and saw two horses
frolicking in the moonlight. The moon was full enough to see that it was
Jamk and Vulla.
-------------------------------
The next day started out the same. Everybody packed their
supplies on their horses and they followed the river. Hopefully they
would reach the city soon. Arna seemed to know a lot about the world,
but Peten has had her as a horse for as long as he can remember. He
didn't take her out of the pasture that often. And when he did, it was
just around town. The world could have changed during that time.
"It's up ahead. Not too much farther!" Rarguf bellowed as he
landed in front of them. He waited for them to catch up and then
followed on all fours.
"Good. We must hurry to catch a ship," Arna replied. She sped
Jamk up.
"I can't wait to get there," Turlon said.
Rarguf turn to look at him.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to run off this time," Turlon said.
As they rode on, Peten could see signs of civilization. Large
buildings near the river appeared. "It must be a huge city to have that
many turbines," he said.
"Huge city?" Rarguf said. "You haven't gotten out much. Yummmak
isn't that large. Now, Wunkarn. That's a large city."
"Wunkarn? Where's that?" Peten asked.
"Why, it's my home," the dragon replied. "It is far north. The
green summers and beautiful and the white winters are gorgeous.
Mountains bigger than you can imagine. And plenty of potential adventures."
"Sounds wonderful," Peten said.
"It is. Too bad I can't go back."
"Why is that?"
Rarguf motioned at himself with his forearm. "I'm a dragon.
Dragons are the target of all adventure-seeking men. Men like I used to
be." He looked away. "But, now I am at the other end of the sword. And
I like it." He jumped into the air, made a few loops, and landed on the
other side of Peten.
"I'm glad you do. And I'm also glad you got your landings down."
Peten said.
"I see the windmills!" shouted Turlon from behind them. Peten
looked in the direction he was pointing. Sure enough the windmills were
visible. The city couldn't be too much farther now.
-----------------------------
As they rode into town, Peten and Turlon looked in amazement.
Peten had never been in a city this big before. Crowds of people were
everywhere. He could barely see the road under him. Rarguf, who flew
around the city to avoid being seen, had said Yummmak wasn't very large.
"If this isn't large, I have to see Wunkarn.," he said to himself.
"We must head to the docks," Arna shouted above the din. "We need
to set sail as soon as possible."
"S-set sail?" Turlon sputtered.
"We have to cross the Zee Sea," Arna yelled back. "Come."
They wormed their way through the crowd. On one street corner,
Peten saw an arcade. It was huge. Through the windows, he could see
countless video games. "Jamk would love to be in there," he thought. He
glanced down at Jamk. The horse looked at the arcade sadly before Arna
steered him around a cart.
Finally they reached the docks on the other end of the city. Arna
dismounted and marched over to a shack. She knocked and a man stepped
out. The two of them began talking.
"Peten, I don't want to sail," Turlon said as he trotted Dabb over
to him. "I hear the Zee Sea is the worst."
"I'm sure that's just exaggeration," Peten said. "Arna knows what
she is doing."
"Peten! Turlon! Come over here!" Arna shouted at them. She was
standing next to one of the medium sized boats.
The two dismounted their horses and walked over to Arna. "We have
a boat." She bend down closer to them to whisper. "And since you are
the Norrom, we have it for free."
A rugged man stepped off the boat and walked down the plank to the
group. "These must be your friends," he said. "Welcome to my boat, the
Mary Ann. Your horses can be put in the bottom."
"Thank you, sir," Peten replied.
"Call me Wilm. I hate being called 'sir.' We set sail in thirty
minutes." He walked toward the shack.
"He seems nice," Turlon said and walked to the horses.
Everybody was aboard and ready to set sail. Peten, Turlon, and
Arna were on the deck as Wilm prepared the ship. "Untie us, Ketta!" he
shouted from the control deck.
A beautiful girl appeared from below deck. She was as rugged as
Wilm, but beautifully rugged. She untied the boat from the dock.
"Untied, Father!" she yelled back.
"Then off we go!" Wilm hollered. The boat lurched forward. The
sails were full of wind. "If the wind stays this good, we will be at the
other side in no time."
"Good," Peten heard Turlon mutter under his breath. Off in the
distance, Peten could see the small shape of a dragon.
As the sun set, the wind died. The boat sat motionless in the
waves. Peten was on the deck watching the sea under the moonlight. It
was so beautiful.
"It's beautiful. Isn't it?" asked Ketta. She had walked up
behind him without him knowing.
"Y-yes it is," Peten said.
"This is why I love working with my father." She sat down beside
him.
"Is the Zee Sea as dangerous as the rumors?" he asked.
"Don't be silly. It's just a sea. If you don't know how to
handle some of the weather, then it's dangerous. But don't worry. My
father knows what he is doing. He grew up on a boat. I did too." She
looked out across the water. "There isn't anything out here he hasn't
seen before."
"I've never seen anything like that before in my life!" Wilm
shouted from the cabin.
Peten and Ketta jumped to their feet and scanned the dark waters.
"What is it, Father?" Ketta asked.
"It's a strange wave or something behind us," he yelled back.
Peten looked aft. Sure enough there was a strange looking wave.
It was coming closer.
"You two get below with the others," Wilm ordered.
"But, Father...." Ketta protested.
"Get below! I can handle this," he shouted.
Peten and Ketta reluctantly ran below deck. Before closing the
door, Peten saw that the wave appeared to have tentacles of water.
"What's going on?" Arna said seeing the look on Ketta's face.
"I don't know," Peten responded. "A strange wave with tentacles
is approaching."
"A wave with tentacles!" Arna shouted. "Where's Wilm? He's not safe!"
"He's in the cabin," Ketta said.
"This is not good," Arna said pacing the room. "This is not good
at all."
"Why what is that thing?" Ketta asked.
"It has no name. And it's effects are undetermined. But I know
it's bad," Arna answered.
Ketta fell to the floor crying. Arna continued to pace. Peten
sat down beside Ketta.
"I have to get him!" she yelled standing up. "I have to save
him!" She bolted for the door.
Peten blocked her. "No! I'll do it." He opened the door and
quickly shut it behind him. Nothing seemed different. Except that the
wave was gone. He climbed the ladder to the cabin and froze. The wave
was here. It had stopped along side the boat. A tentacle of water was
extended into the cabin. "Wilm!" Peten shouted as he threw the door open.
The water tentacle had attached itself to Wilm's chest. Pulses
flowed from the tentacle into Wilm. With each pulse Wilm's body
expanded, getting rounder. He had already ripped his shirt. Peten
grabbed Wilm's feet and pulled him. Wilm was heavy, and the tentacle was
making him heavier with every pulse. When Peten pulled the captain out
of the cabin, he slammed the door cutting the tentacle. Wilm was still
unconscious. Peten continued to drag him toward the ladder.
Tentacles found where Peten and Wilm were. A tentacle connected
with Wilm again. Peten picked up a board that was lying close by and
sliced the water. The tentacle pulled back and charged again. Peten
continued to drive it away. Another tentacle tried to attach itself to
Peten, but Peten kept it at bay.
"Peten! Lower him down!" shouted a voice. Peten looked down the
ladder. It was Turlon. Peten hacked at the tentacles and slowly lowered
Wilm down the ladder. The man's arms and head had swollen also. Turlon
received him at the bottom. Peten then climbed down the ladder himself.
The two boys helped Wilm to the door to go under the deck. The
tentacles weren't bothering them since the wave was on the other side of
the boat. They opened the door. Turlon pulled Wilm in as Peten closed
the door.
"What's happened!" yelled Ketta. She ran to her father's side.
"Father! Speak to me."
Wilm remained motionless. Arna kneeled beside Wilm. She felt of
his swollen torso. "It might not be too late," she said. She pulled out
a container from her pouch. She opened the container and sprinkled some
power on Wilm. She then began to chant.
Ketta held her father's hand crying. "Stand back," Arna ordered
Ketta and continued chanting. Ketta backed away slowly. Peten put his
arm around her shoulder and they both sat against the other wall. They
both watched in silence. Turlon was pacing the room and then walked to
other room where the horses were.
Wilm's swelling was quickly going down. But as his body got
smaller, it changed color. It turned shiny black with a hint of brown.
He also seemed deformed. Arna lowered her head. "I'm sorry. It's the
best I can do," she said never turning around to face Ketta.
Ketta jumped up and ran to her father's side. She looked in
horror. Peten joined her. What he saw was awful. What he was looking
at was not Wilm. It was a seal. The upper body of a seal attached to
Wilm's legs.
The seal moved. It's dark, round eyes opened. It looked up at
Ketta. It raised a flipper to her. It then saw its flipper and it eyes
got wider. It sat up and examined its body. It stared at Arna and
barked.
"I'm sorry, Wilm, but it's the best I could do," she said.
The seal/Wilm barked again.
"You are lucky to have only transformed this much. If Peten
hadn't pulled you away from that wave tentacle, you would have been
completely a seal."
Wilm barked.
"I said I was sorry. It's all I could do. There is a chance
though. You can probably change back. Concentrate on your human body.
Think human," Arna instructed.
Wilm closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. Slowly, his seal
body became more human. Ketta looked with glee. After a minute or two,
Wilm was sitting there. He opened his eyes and looked at himself in surprise.
"What have you done to me?" he asked. "I'm a human."
"Wilm, you are a human," Arna said.
"I'm a seal. I was born a seal, and I am to stay a seal," he said.
Arna held his shoulders. "Listen. You are not a seal. You are Wilm."
"I am a seal!"
"OK, then concentrate on your seal body. You can change back,"
Arna told him.
The seal closed his human eyes and concentrated. Wilm's face,
arms, and torso became that of a seal again. He opened his eyes, looked
at himself, and barked.
"Yes. It did work," Arna replied. "But, your human body has a
seal mind."
Wilm barked loudly.
"You can choose. Well, both of your minds have to choose. Do you
want to be part seal with your own mind, or human with a seal's mind?"
Wilm looked down and raised a flipper to examine. He looked up at
Ketta who was sitting there silently with tears in her eyes. He barked
reluctantly.
"I thought you would choose that option. I'm sorry," Arna said.
She looked to Ketta. "Your father has chosen to stay this way. I'll see
what I can do about his speaking."
Tears swelled up in Ketta's eyes. She hugged her seal-like
father. "I hoped YOU would stay."
Wilm barked and hugged his daughter with his flippers.